BUCS Duathlon 2017

The BUCS Duathlon held Castle Combe represents both a highlight of EUTriC’s calendar and a favourite of many of our athletes. The race involves a 2mile (~3km) run followed by 5 laps of the race track by bike, 10miles (~15km) in total, before another 2mile run to the finish. For many, not only was it their first time representing the University of Exeter, it was also their first multi-discipline event. With its exceptionally high standard, BUCS Duathlon represented something of a baptism of fire to our newer member. They rose to the occasion, and along with our more seasoned athletes, produced some fantastic performances.

The weather this year was calm with sunshine, very different from the last few years, which led to some very quick times and several PBs for those that have raced previous years. However, the stand out from BUCS this year was the size of the squad and the depth of talent. We took a huge 34 athletes this year who all put in massive efforts. The race was split into three waves and men’s, women’s and mixed.

First up, in the men’s wave, Exeter was represented by 9 athletes. Jack Bond, Seamus Sheard, Events Sec Finn Arentz, Former Captain and current Alumni Officer Harry Preston, Publicity Sec Alex Foyn, Matt Schaffer, Simon Jones, Jake Keast and Pierre Terlinden-Ruhl. Overall the standard was exceptional, with six of our athletes finishing in under 50mins and some rapid times. Stand out performances came from first finisher, Jack Bond in 43:55 with a PB, and 23rd place overall despite not using a TT bike. Harry Preston, a regular force at the BUCS events over the last few years, was next in with a time of 44:32, also a PB! First year, Seamus, showcased his huge potential finishing not long after in 45:25.

On to the women’s wave, featuring Elise Metcalfe, Captain Ellen P-K, Natalie Gravett, Jessica Clark, Kate Milsom, Bronte Penney, Sophie Mccormack, Isabelle Defillion, Georgia Weston. Captain, Ellen P-K lead from the from with a fantastic performance, finishing our highest placed girl in 53:06! Here is her view of the race: “Nerves definitely got the better of me before the race but as soon as we set off I decided to enjoy my last bucs duathlon ever! The weather conditions were perfect and atmosphere was great! Really happy with my bike and managed to get a 2.5 minute PB overall! The second run is never fun but managed to get around eventually! Overall, a fab day out with the club and great to see so many new faces giving Triathlon a go!” Also finishing very strongly was Elise in 55:37 in her first ever Duathlon!

In the final wave we had a huge 16 athletes including Brad Toseland, Katie Cammack, Jacob Jack, Treasurer Jenny Withers, Social Sec Alan Truman, Oli Kent, Elizabeth Lewis, Stash Sec Brian Tai, Sophie Woolcock, Olivia Moorey, Lok Chun Cha, Freddie Leith, Jessel Patel, Andy Cox, Chris James and Bizzy Watson. There were some fantastic performances with many exceeding their own expectations and smashing their expected times. Elizabeth Lewis had a very strong race and came home our third girl in a time of 57:32. Jacob Jack and Brad Toseland both raced fantastically in their first event for the uni with times of 51:09 and 51:59 respectively. Here are a few views from more of our members racing in the third wave.

“I’d say it was a fantastic experience doing my first Duathlon and that is was fast, furious but consequently fun. Plenty of lessons learned for the future too. To summarise, a fantastic event, an experience from which to learn and a fast, furious but overall fun race.” – Chris James

“At the beginning of first year, I had not ridden a bike in years, so two years later I would never had expected to represent Exeter in the BUCS Duathlon! The competition was tough, but it was a great opportunity and we all made a really fun day of it.” Natalie Gravett

“Despite my terrible transitions and annoying cramp during the cycle, I had a great time in the duathlon and enjoyed driving the van. Very well organised by the club!” Oli Kent

Full Team Results are below, again we can’t emphasise enough how proud we are of the effort put into the duathlon by all our members, especially everyone who was racing for the first time! Lastly the club would like to thank the event organisers, DB Max, as well as our Events Sec, Finn and Captain, Ellen for getting the club there and the help from all our members who volunteered to drive, especially our Vice-Captain Grace Jessett who drove up to support despite not being able to race.